Twice Wimbledon champion Kvitova bows out

Reuters

Reuters

Photo:

LONDON (Reuters) - Twice champion Petra Kvitova bowed out of Wimbledon in the second round on Saturday, losing a two-hour slugfest 7-5 7-6(5)to unseeded Ekaterina Makarova after a far longer battle against the weather.

The rain-delayed clash between the Czech 10th seed, the title winner in 2011 and 2014, and her Russian opponent was the final match of the round.

"I felt stuck in the second round for a while. I think that the tournament was really weird for me this time," Kvitova told reporters.

"I was waiting all day long almost every day to be scheduled on, and didn't really have a chance to finish or step on the court."

When play was finally possible, blustery conditions contributed to a relatively high error count by both women -- Kvitova serving five double faults and Makarova six.

Makarova, a quarter-finalist in 2014 and beaten by Kvitova in the third round in 2013, broke in the 11th game of the first set and held serve to take the set, the Czech missing two chances to break back.

After an exchange of breaks early in the second set, the

Russian sealed the win in the tiebreak on a forehand error by Kvitova.